Mixing valve operation



1956 G. D. PHILLIPS, JR

MIXING VALVE OPERATION 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 23, 1952 GERARD D. PHILLIPS JR.

IN V EN TOR.

' AA) ATTORNEY Dec. 25, 1956 3. D. PHILLIPS, JR 2,775,135

MIXING VALVE OPERATION Filed Oct. 23, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

I6 E g g i /r 29 3o FIG. 5

FIG. 6

FIG. 2

INVENTOR. GERARD 0. PH/LIJPS JR.

\ Radiator; &,:Standard Eaanitary Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa, arorporation, of Delaware Application October 23; 1952, SerialfiNo. 316,527

" ZQClaims. owe-47s) This invention relates to new and usefulimp-rovements inmixing valves andmore particularly'to a. novel pedal operated mixingvalve.

One, ofthe objects of this invention is to provide a mixingvalve ofnew and improved construction utilizing a novel pedal operator.-

Another object is to provide anew rand improvedpedal operated mixing valve arranged for pedal operation by a singlefoot.

Another object is to provide, a mixing valve having a pair of actuating pedals of new and" improved construction which permit valve operation by movement of a single foot substantially in one plane.

Other objects will become apparent from time to time throughout thespecification. and claims as hereinafter related.

This invention comprises the new and, improved construction and combination of parts which will be described hereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

In the, accompanying drawings, to, be taken; asya part of; this specification, there isclearly and;fully illustrated a preferred. embodiment of thisiinvention, in whichrdrawmgs: j p

Figuretl is a view in side elevation: of; mixing valve: dis closing the. present invention and showing the relationship of the same to the wall and floor on and adjacent which it is mounted,

Fig, 2 ista view in front elevation oizthe valve shown in Figs 1,, l

\ Fig 3, is, a partial plan, view. ofrthe-valve; operating pedalsshownin Figs. 1 and 2,

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the operation of the valve actuating pedals by the single foot of an operator, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of the valve actuating pedals showing the position of the same at two dilterent stages of operation.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown a pedal operated mixing valve 1 of the type which is customarily used in hospitals for controlling the flow of hot and cold water to a wash basin. The valve 1 is shown as being mounted on a vertical wall 2 and adjacent the floor 3. The valve 1 comprises a valve casing 4 having lugs 5 and 6 for connection to a mounting plate 7. The valve casing 4 has two sections 8 and 9 providing passages for flow of hot and cold water. The casing sections 8 and 9 have inlets 10 and 11 connected to inlet pipes 10 and a single outlet 12 connected to a discharge pipe or conduit 13 for discharge of mixed water. The valve casings 8 and 9 have valve stems 14 and 15 reciprocally movable therein. The valve casing 8 is shown in partial section to show the valve seat 16 which is closed by a valve member 17 urged to closed position by a spring 18. The valve construction within the valve casing portion 9 is identical with that just described and, there fore, is not shown. The valve stems 14 and 15, which ex- United States Patent 0 2,775,135 Patented Dec. 25, 1956 2-. tend from the lower portion-ofthevalve casings 8 and 9; have .slot-s19and 20, respectively, therein. At the lower end of the wall mounting plate 7, there is provided a bracket member 21 which provides a fulcrum 22 for a pair of bell crank lever actuators 2-3 and 24, respectively. The bellorank leveractuators 23 and 24* have short crank arm portions 25and 26 and pedal leverportions 27 and 28. The lever actuators also have flange portions 25 and ZG -eXtending substantially parallel to the'crankarms. Thepedal lever portions-27 and 28* carry at their lower ends a pair of pedal actuators 29 and 30=which are'positioned closely side by side for operation by single foot. The pedal actuators 29 and 30 areinclined with respect to each other to form a large dihedral angle, the purpose of whichwill be set forth more-completely in the description of operation of this valve. The pedal actuators29 and 30 each have stop abu-tments 31 and 32, respectively, which is engageablewith the floor' 3 to limit movement of the pedal levers. Adjacent the lever fulcrum 22, there is positioned a UJ-shaped spring clip 33 which is carried on the bracket 21. There are provided two of these spring clips 33, one cooperablewith' each of the lever flanges 25 and 26 respectively. The spring clips 33 are positioned adjacent the crank arms 25 and26 so that the actuating levers can be moved to posit-ion indicated in the upper d-ottedline view and may be held in that position by engagement of the clips 33 with the flanges 25 and 26. The spring clips 33 could, ifdesired, be positioned to engage the crank arms 25 and 26 rather than the lever flanges;

Operation In considering, the operation of this, valve, someconsideration must be givento the. prior art. It. should be recognized that numerous attempts, have been made. in the past to provide apedaloperated valve, which is easily manufacturedand installed and, which. is simple to opcrate. Two suchj,attempt,s,.,have. been shown in Patents 1,627,020 and 11807900 to. G. O... Dougherty. In. these patents, there is shown amixing valve arrangement. which isoperated by a pair ofipedalactuators. which arepositioned closely sideby side. Other such attempts are shown in Speiden Patent 1,176,784, Dederer 1,366,120, Yeiser 1,460,931, and Zinkil,2,.18.8,25.8,. This last, group of patents represents anattempt to solve this problem byproviding a single actuator which may be depressed. to, controlvolume of water flow and rotated to control relative flow. of hot and cold water. In each of these prior art devices, the arrangement permitted operation by the single foot of an operator. However, in these and other prior art devices, the opera-t-ors foot would have to both depress the actuating mechanism and rotate the same by a twisting movement of the foot to determine the relative position of the hot and cold water control valves for determining mixed water temperature. In the present valve construc tion, there is provided a much more efiicient pedal actuator in that the pedal actuators are inclined to a dihedral angle which permits relative movement of the valve actuating pedals without requiring a twisting movement on the part of the operators foot.

In each of the valve casings 8 and 9, there are provided valves for control of hot and cold water, respectively. The valves are spring loaded to a normally closed position. The valve members are reciprocally actuated by engagement of the bell crank lever portions: 25 and 26 with the slotted ends 19 and 20 of the valve stems 14 and 15, respectively. The relation of the valve stems and bell crank levers is such that the downward movement of the pedal levers 27 and 28 will cause the crank arm portions 25 and 26 to engage and move the valve stems 14 and 15 toward a valve opened position. From this description of operation, it will be seen that downward movement of the pedal levers 27 and 28 will cause an opening and increased flow through each of the valve casings 8 and 9. It should also be apparent that while the volume of flow can be controlled by the extent of depression of the pedal levers, the temperature of mixed water flowing through the outlet pipe 13 can be controlled by the relative position of the pedal levers 27 and 28. Because of the dihedral angle at which the pedal actuators 29 and 30 are set, the operators foot will normally rest in this angle and adjustment of the relative position of the levers may therefore be efiected by rotary movement of the foot from side to side about the axis defined by the operators leg. This feature of operation of this valve is brought out more clearly in the diagrammatic views shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. In Fig. 4, there is shown a diagrammatic view showing the initial position of an operators foot and indicating the direction of side to side movement. In such an operation, the heel would rest on the floor free and the front part of the foot 34 would be cradled in the dihedral angle formed by the pedal actuators 29 and 30 as indicated in Fig. 5. If an increased flow of water is desired, the front part of the foot 34 would merely be depressed to move the levers 27 and 28 to open the valves wider. If a greater quantity of hot or cold water is desired, the foot is merely rotated on the heel about the vertical axis of the operators leg as shown in Fig. 6, which effects a relative displacement of the actuators 29 and 30 to the desired position without requiring a twisting movement of the foot.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the angular construction of the pedal actuators permits adjustment of water temperature by adjusting the relative position of the pedal actuators without requiring a twisting movement of the operators foot. the volume of flow may be adjusted by movement of the 'foot in a vertical direction and the temperature may be adjusted by movement of the foot substantially in a horizontal plane by rotation on the heel and about the vertical axis of the operators leg.

Although the dihedral angle of the pedal actuators 29 and 30 in this construction have been shown as being formed by the adjacent positioning of two plane pedals, it should be obvious to the artisan that the same result would be reached if the pedal operators were of a curved construction or of any other construction whereby an angular displacement may be effected by movement of the operators foot from side to side.

In this construction,

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the class described, a pair of bell crank levers having crank arms and lever arms, means to be actuated by said bell crank levers, said means having slotted portions engageable with said bell crank arms, said bell crank levers being pivotally mounted adjacent said means and said crank arms being movable into said slotted portions to engage said means for actuation thereof, said lever arms extending downward, pedals on the lower ends of said lever arms and positioned closely side by side for depression by an operators foot to actuate said means, said pedals being inclined to form a dihedral angle for receiving the operators foot so that the relatively depressed position of the pedals may be varied by rotary movement of the foot about the axis of the leg and substantially in a single plane, a pair of spring clips positioned one adjacent each of said bell crank arms, and sai spring clips being positioned to engage and hold said levers upon predetermined rotation thereof to hold said pedal lever arms in an elevated position.

2. In an actuating device, a pair of bell crank levers having crank arms and lever arms, means to be actuated by said bell crank levers, said means having slotted portions engageable with said bell crank arms, said bell crank levers being pivotally mounted adjacent to said means, said crank arms being movable into said slotted portions to engage said means for actuation thereof, said lever arms extending downward, pedals on the lower ends of said lever arms and positioned closely side by side for simultaneous depression by an operators foot to actuate said means, said pedals being inclined upwardly to form a dihedral angle for receiving the operators foot so that the relatively depressed position of said pedals may be varied by rotary movement of the foot about the axis of the leg and substantially in a single plane.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,050,686 Pelton Jam 14, 1913 1,080,695 Howe Dec; 9, 1913 1,344,343 Harp June 22, 1920 1,627,020 Dougherty May 3, .1927 1,919,968 7 Trabold July 25, 1933 2,287,011 Beabe June23, 1942 2,392,086 Fisher Jan. 1, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS r 1 22,681 Great Britain Oct. 4, 1897 280,968 Great Britain May 3-, 1928 622,878 France Mar. 8, 1927 637,156, Germany Oct. 27, 1936 

